Guardian Media continues to highlight how the fishermen from Orange Valley and members of the community continue to struggle to eke out a living and pick up the pieces of their lives after seven of their own were murdered in a pirate attack.
Fishing is the lifeblood for Orange Valley. But the deaths of fishermen, Jason Baptiste, 30, Hemraj Alex Sooknanan, 18, Anand Rampersad, 39, Justin Kissoon, 19, Brandon Kissoon, 21, Shiva Ramdeo, 27, and Leslie De Boulet has put a damper on the trade.
Their deaths still reverberate in the quiet village. It is as if the community as a whole were gutted as their names are talked about in hushed whispers and fear pervades the tightly-knit village.
Their deaths continue to have a ripple effect in the community, with fewer fishermen venturing out to sea, staying closer to home where they have found odd jobs while some others remain unemployed.
Basdeo said some fishermen were only going out two or three days a week to fish since they cannot afford another tragedy to happen. He said they now come ashore as early as 10 pm as it was too dangerous to stay outside longer and continue like they previously did, roaming as far as the North Coast off Maracas.
A business owner whose establishment catered to fishermen carrying equipment ranging from fishing line, hooks, sinkers, rope, nets, drinks, water and ice said business had slowed down since the incident.
He said many people from "outside" didn't come in the village and without these fishermen, many businesses in the community could close down.
PRO of the Orange Valley Pirogue Association Amit Basdeo who lost two of his workers, Jason Baptiste, 30 and Alex Sooknanan, 18, and his boat during the pirate attack on July 22, 2019, spent his birthday, Christmas Eve, transporting a boat engine for a businessman.
Speaking to Guardian Media in front a supply store frequented by the fishermen, Basdeo said "When the pirates attack, many fishermen are afraid to go out and are working close to shore.
"They choose to work on the land as there's no security out there in the sea where it's very dangerous. I lost some of my friends, my business and my boat in that pirate attack.
"I only got back my engine, I wasn't compensated. A second-hand boat and engine cost $55,000, a new pirogue can cost $45,000, a new engine is $40,000, then there is equipment like nets and supplies.
"They ask why I don't buy back a boat, I tell them I'm done with that work when I lost my friends, Jason Baptiste and Alex Sooknanan."
He said he was seeing about someone else's boat and engine, repairing nets and servicing engines and asking for assistance for the fishermen and their families in Orange Valley.
Basdeo said he was pleading for better security from the authorities, but nothing concrete had materialised or been put in place for the fishermen to date.
Basdeo said since the T&T Coast Guard took at least a day to send a vessel after a reported pirate attack, he suggested that a floating Coast Guard base in the Gulf of Paria be installed close to the fishing area so the fishermen can feel safer with the Coast Guard conducting surveillance the coast and sea.
He said the Orange Valley fishing depot was one of the largest fishing markets in the country and was in dire need of an upgrade.
Keith McDonald, a welder and handyman who was fabricating a gate for a business said most of the residents in the village were involved in fishing directly or their livelihood revolved around the industry.
He said what the fishermen received in life they achieved by dint of sheer hard work, such as building their house.
McDonald when there was low tide, they had to push their dory or small shuttle boat over the mud into the water to reach the mother ship to offload goods.
He said the fishermen's deaths affected businesses in the community, he also did work for them in their homes and built anchors for them.
A tanker worker said the fishermen's children will be affected the most since rumours circulating outside the community that they were involved in drugs, were definitely not true.
He said there were no social help programmes for the children or psychological counselling for the fishermen or their family members since the incident.
A fish vendor said that it was the first time residents had experienced something like that in the village. He said right after the incident, people were numb and jittery, and if the fishermen heard something unusual on the water, they would leave the vicinity.
He said last Christmas was not the same as before and was very bleak.
The vendor said they were still trying to pick back up the pieces.
